Hydraulic timer



July 29, 1958 F. D. GUGELER HYDRAULIC TIMER Filed May 7, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent HYDRAULIC TIMER Frederick D. Gugeler, Lombard, Ill., assignor to Aqua matic Inc., a corporation, of Illinois Application May 7, 1953, Serial No. 353,654

3 Claims. (Cl. 161- 1) This invention relates to an hydraulic timer, and particularly to a timer especially adapted to determine the duration of a step in the regeneration cycle of water treatment apparatus.

it is an object of this invention to provide a novel and improved hydraulic timer.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a novel timer which operates by the withdrawal of liquid at a predetermined rate through a capillary tubing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel timer having its timing cycle controlled by the flow of liquid through a capillary tubing and adapted to have its timing cycle varied by changing the length of the tubing.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an hydraulic timer of novel and improved construction which avoids any tendency for the moving parts in the timer to stick or otherwise become faulty in operation.

A further object of this invention is to provide an hydraulic timer of novel construction in which leakage of the hydraulic liquid, even after long-continued use, is

avoided.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an hydraulic timer of novel and economical construction which avoids the necessity for close dimensional tolerances of the timer parts and which avoids the need for costly finishing operations, such as grinding and polish mg.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel hydraulic timer in which thehydraulic timing liquid is drawn ofi immediately at the start of the timing cycle and any air which may have been trapped in the timer is not drawn ofi until the end of the hydraulic liquid flow, thereby insuring that the presence of such air in the timer does not afiect its timing action.

Also, it .is anobject of the present invention to provide a novel combination of a control. valvemechanism for water treatment. apparatus and an hydraulic timer in which the hydraulic timer is positively interconnected with the control valve mechanism to operate the latter to change the flow through the water treatment apparatus in response to the operation of the hydraulic timer.

Other and further objects and advantages of the, present invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

in the drawings:

Figure l is a schematic view, with parts in section,

showing the hydraulic timer of the present invention ratus of the type disclosed in copending application Serial No. 334,582, of Robert A. Whitlock, Jr., filed February 2, 1953, now Patent No. 2,715,098. Referring to Fig. 1, this apparatus includes a water treatment tank 10 of conventional construction containing a bed of base exchange material 11. At its top and bottom the tank 10 is provided with pipe connections 12 and 13. A conduit 14 connects the top connection 12 with a drain valve 16 connected in a drain line 17. A conduit 18 connects the bottom connection 13 with an ejector 19, while inlet valve 21 connected in a raw water supply line 22 is disposed between the drain valve 16 and the ejector 19 for alternately directing the flow of water between the opposite ends of the reaction tank. While it is to be understood that the drain valve, the inlet valve, and the ejector may be spaced apart as separate units and interconnected bysuitable conduits, for purposes of illustrating one embodiment of the invention, they are connected together as a single compact multiport control valve as disclosed in the above-mentioned Whitlock application.

In general the inlet valve 21. includes a body 25 having an inlet port 26 connected to the raw water supply line ZZ'attached to a source of liquid under pressure such, for example, as a municipal water supply system, a drain port 27 adjacent the upper end of the body as shown in Fig. 2, connected with the drain line 17, a top port 28 between the inlet port 26 and the. drain port 27 and arranged to be connected to the conduit 14, a bottom port 29, and a service port 31 between the inlet port.26 and the bottom port 29 in communication with a service line 24. The body is formed with a central passage extendingv lengthwise of thev body divided into a plurality of chambers 32, 33, 34 and 36. The chamber 32 is at the upper endof the body in communication with the port 27 and is defined by an annular groove on a stem guide insert 37 threaded in the upper end of the body and an annular groove formed in the side walls of the body. An O-ring 44 is secured to the lower end of the insert 37 to define a valve seatfacing the chamber 33, while an axially extending passageway 39 encircled by the valve seat elfects.

communication between the chamber 33 and the chamber 32 through apertures 41 in the insert. A stem 46 extendsthrough the stern guide insert 37 and is formed with a\ disc or valve element 48 shaped to seat against the. valve seat 44. Alever 4-9'is pivotally connected. adjacent one of its ends with the outer end of the stern by a pin 51. Intermediate its ends the lever 49 is pivotally mounted,

operator.

free end of the lever 49 is moved downwardly the valve element 43'seats on the valve seat 44 to block communication between drain port 27' and top port 28.

The chamber 33 is defined by the inner end of the insert 37 and a ported insert 56 spaced from the insert 37 and threaded into the body passage at a position be,- tween the top port 28 and the inlet port 26. The end of the insert 56 adjacent the chamber 34 is preshaped to define a frusto-conical valve seat 58. The chamber: 34 is definedby; theinsert 56 and a ported insert 59 spaced? from the. insert 56 and threadedly received in the bodypassageway at a position between the in1etport2'6' and the ports 29 and 31. A resilient gasket is secured to they insert 59- by. a ferrule 60 to have an annular. shoulder 63, extend into the, chamber 34 to define a valve seat;

Disposed. within-thechamber 34 is a valvemernber com-- prising a spindle or plunger 64 having a generally hexagonal shape and shorter than the distance between the valve seats 58 and 63. A gasket 66 is attached to the upper end of the plunger as by a screw 67 while the lower end 68 of the plunger is substantially flat. The plunger 64 is constructed so that it can be moved upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2 in response to a pressure differential existing between the inlet port 26 and the ports 29 and 31, or between the chamber 33 and the chamber 34, while at the same time being heavy enough to return to the position shown in Fig. 1 when the pressure heads in the chambers 33 and 34 are substantially equal.

The ejector 19 is connected to the valve body 25, by having the neck 69 at its upper end threadedly received in the port 29 and presenting a passage 70 communicating with the valve chamber 36. Directly below the passage 70 the ejector body is formed with an internal wall in which is threadedly mounted a nozzle 71 having a converging passage leading from passage 70 down into the Venturi shaped throat 72 of the ejector. The ejector body defines a chamber 73 at the eye of the ejector between the nozzle and throat and is formed thereat with a port 74 to which is connected the pipe 75 leading from a reagent tank 76. The ejector body is also formed with a bypass passage 77 extending around the nozzle and throat of the ejector and adapted to bypass liquid from a chamber 78 at the discharge end of the throat up to the chamber 70. A flap-type check valve 79 is disposed at the low er end of bypass passage 77 and permits liquid to flow from chamber 78 up through bypass passage 77, but not vice versa. Chamber 78 communicates with conduit 18 connected to the bottom of the treatment tank 10.

The regenerant tank 76 may be of any conventional construction. The regenerant pipe 75 enters the tank 76 through its open upper end and terminates in a horizontally disposed, apertured intake 80 at the bottom of the tank. A float operated valve 81, of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent 2,558,471 to Robert A. Whitlock, Jr., is connected in the regenerant line 75 to control the flow therethrough under the control of a float 82 in the regenerant tank. Reference may be had to said Whitlock patent for a detailed description of the construction and mode of operation of this float valve.

The closing of the drain valve 16 in the above-described water treatment apparatus is under the control of the hydraulic timer of the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment this timer includes a generally cylindrical housing comprising a bottom 90, a lower cylindrical side wall 91, an upper cylindrical side wall 92, a top 93, and an annular ring 94 threaded onto the adjacent ends of the upper and lower cylindrical side walls 91, 92. The timer housing is supported from the body 25 of the control valve by means of spaced ears 92a on the upper housing portion 92 of the timer, which are pivoted at 92b to the lower end of the valve body 25. A flexible diaphragm 95 of rubber or the like is clamped at its marginal edge between the adjacent ends of the cylindrical side walls 91, 92 to provide separate, variable volume upper and lower chambers 96, 97 (Fig. 2) in the timer housing. The diaphragm 95 is of generally cup-shaped configuration, having a normally flat middle portion 110 adapted to extend substantially across the interior of the timer housing, a normally cylindrical portion 111 connected at its inner edge to the outer edge of the middle portion 110 of the diaphragm and an annular marginal flange 112 connected to the outer edge of the cylindrical diaphragm portion 111 and received in a groove 113 in the ring 94. The diaphragm is assembled in the timer by first locating its flange 112 in the groove 113 in ring 94 and then screwing the upper and lower housing side walls 92 and 91 into the ring 94 to clamp the diaphragm flange between them. It will be noted that when the timer housing is completely filled with water the middle portion 110 of the diaphragm abuts against the top 93 of the timer housing and the cylindrical portion 111 abuts against the inner face of the upper side wall 92 of the timer housing. Thus, when the diaphragm is subjected to full water pressure (Fig. 1) it is supported by the top and the upper side walls of the timer housing against this water pressure. This enables the use of a thinner, more flexible diaphragm, which readily assumes the level of the liquid in the timer housing, than would be the case if the diaphragm were required to resist the full water pressure by itself. The top 93 of the housing is formed with a central hole 98 through which extends loosely a rigid stem 99 attached to the middle of the diaphragm 95. The attachment of stem 99 to diaphragm 95 is effected by a screw 99a threadedly received in the lower end of the stern and having its head embedded in the material of the diaphragm. Threadedly mounted on the upper end of stem 99 is a thirnble 100 which receives the lowermost bead in a metal bead chain 101, which is attached at its upper end to the lever 49. Thus, the stem 99 and bead chain 101 form a positive connection between the lever 49 and the diaphragm 95 in the timer.

At its bottom wall the timer housing receives a fitting 102 having a restricted passage 103 which communicates with the timer chamber 97 below the diaphragm 95. At its lower end the fitting 102 receives a complementary threaded fitting 104 connected to one end of the capillary tubing 105. A fine mesh screen 106 is provided at the fitting 102 to keep out foreign particles from the capillary tubing. The capillary tubing in one practical embodiment of the invention, which has been used with satisfactory results, has an internal diameter of .019 inch. To increase its length while requiring only a minimum of space, the capillary tubing is preferably wound in helical fashion, as shown in the drawings. At its opposite end the capillary tubing carries a fitting 107 threadedly mounted in a fitting 108, which has a passage therethrough communicating with the chamber 73 between the nozzle and throat of the ejector. A fine mesh screen 109 is located in fitting 108 to screen foreign particles from passing into the capillary tubing.

In the operation of the timer of the present invention in conjunction with the water treatment apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2, for purposes of discussion it will be assumed that the components of the system initially are in the position shown in Fig. 1, so that water flowing through the tank 10 is being treated and delivered to service. Thus the valve element 48 is seated against the seat 44, the plunger 64 is in its lower position so that its lower end 68 seats on the valve seat 63 and the valve element 66 is spaced from the seat 58. Under these conditions water flows from the liquid supply line 22 through the port 26 into the chamber 34 through the chamber 33, through the port 28, to the conduit 14, to the top connection 12, down through the tank 10, out through the bottom connection 13, through the conduit 18, past check valve 79 through bypass conduit 77 to the chamber 36, to the port 31, to the service line 24. Under these conditions the pressure at the inlet port 26 or in the chamber 34 is greater than the pressure at the ports 29 and 31 or in the chamber 36 and the plunger 64 is maintained against the seat 63.

The timer housing is filled with water and the diaphragm is pressed against the top 93 of the n'mer housing. The regenerant tank 76 is filled and the float valve 81 is closed, so that the regenerant supply line 75 is closed.

To regenerate the exchange material in the tank 10 the operator lifts up on the handle 49 of the drain valve 16 to move the valve element 48 away from the seat 44. As a consequence liquid flows from the chamber 33 through the passageway 39, the apertures 41, and the chamber 32, out the drain port 27 to the drain line 17. As soon as the valve element 48 is moved away from the seat 44 the chamber 32 is opened to atmosphere and the pressure equilibrium of the system is upset so that a pressure differential exists between the chamber 34" and the chamber 36. For a short time interval after the valve 48 is opened, the pressure in the chamber v36 remains substantially constant, while the pressure in chambers 33 and 34 immediately drops. Because of the higher pressure in the chamber 36, and due to the turbulence and the velocity of water passing from the chamber 34 through the ported insert 56 to the chamber 33, the plunger 64 is caused to move from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2 so that the valve element 66 seats against the seat 58. As soon as the valve element 66 seats, the water flowing through the inlet port 26 passes through chamber 34 to the chamber 36 so that the direction of flow in chamber 36 is reversed. Under these conditions water passing into the chamber 36 flows through the nozzle 71 to the throat 72 and thence to the chamber 78. As the water passes through the ejector a low pressure area or suction is created in the chamber 73 that causes regenerant solution to be drawn from the tank 76 into the line 75 from the intake 80 atthe bottom of the tank 76. The regenerant solution mixes with the water in the ejector and the mixture flows through the line 18, up through the tank 10, through the conduit 14, to the chamber 33 and thence to the drain line 17. When the float 82 reaches a preselected lower level it closes the float valve 81 to stop the flow of regenerant from tank 76.

The establishing of this low pressure area at the chamber 73 by the flow of water down through the ejector also draws water from the timer chamber 97 through the capillary tubing 105. The length and the bore diameter of the capillary tubing determine therate at which water is withdrawn from the timer chamber, so that. the total time required to complete the withdrawal of water from the timer chamber may be varied by lengthening or shortening the capillary tubing or by substituting a capillary tubing having a different bore. An appreciable length of time is required to complete the withdrawal of liquid from the timer housing through the capillary tubing, and this length of time is chosen so that the withdrawal of water from the timer housing through the capillary tubing continues after the termination of the flow of regenerant liquidfrom the regenerant tank 76. The interval of time. after the stopping of the regenerant flow while water continues to flow from the timer determines the rinse'period' forthe reaction tank 10, during which time water continues to flow up through the tank to rinse the bed of exchange material 11 therein.

The flow of water out of the timer housing continues in this manner until the diaphragm 95 is lowered to a level at which it pulls down on the lever 49, through the stem 99 and bead chain 101, to lift up on the valve stem 46 which moves the valve 48 against its seat 44. This action takes place when the water is substantially completely emptied from the chamber 97 below diaphragm 95. It will be understood that, as water is withdrawn from the liquid'chamber 97 in the timer, the diaphragm 95 lowers accordingly and air is admitted through the hole 98 around the stem 99 into the air chamber 96 above the diaphragm.

As soon as the valve element 48 is seated, the pressure in chamber 33 builds up and there is no longer a pressure difierential between the chamber 33 and the chamber 34 or between the conduits 14 and 18 and the line 22 and consequently there is no force urging or holding the plunger 64 in its upper position. The plunger 64, therefore, settles downwardly in the chamber 34, moving the valve element 66 away from the seat 58. As the plunger 64 moves downwardly in the chamber 34 the valve face 68 seats on the seat 63 thereby preventing the flow of water between chambers 34 and 36 and causing liquid to flow from chamber 34 to chamber 33 when the liquid is drawn from the service line.

Thus, completion of the withdrawal of water from the chamber 97 below the diaphragm 95 in the timer causes the control valve to shift back again to its service condi- 6 tion for the next service run of the water treatment apparatus.

It will be noted that, in the particular construction of the timer illustrated in the drawings, the stem 99 has an extremely loose fit in thehousinghole 98 through which it extends since there can be no leakage of liquid past the stem, and, in fact, it. is intended to permit air to pass'freely around the stem 99 into and from the chamber 96 above the diaphragm 95 in the timer. Thus, the stem 99' need not be ground and polished, as would be the case if it had a close fit in the hole 98. Also, the diaphram 95 provides a floating mounting for the lower end of the stem 99, thereby avoiding any tendency of the stem 99 to bind or stick in the hole 98.

Also, it will be noted that the interior surface of the side walls of the housing need not be smooth since the pressure responsive element is the diaphragm 95, whereas if the pressure-responsive element were a reciprocatory piston it'would be necessary to have smooth inner faces on: the side walls to accommodate the piston and still avoid substantial leakage around the piston.

Furthermore, the provision of the diaphragm 95 as the pressureresponsive element in the timer avoids leakage-of liquid pastthe pressure responsive element in the timer after long usage.

Since. the liquid chamber in the timer is at the lower end of .thetimer, any air which might become trapped in i the liquid chamber 97 of thetimer will not be drawn off untilafter all of the liquid has been drawn off. Therefore, the presence of such air'would not change appreciably the time interval for which the timer is set to control the. operation of the controlvalve for the water treatment apparatus. Anyair which might be present in the liquid chamber 97 ofthevtimer would assist, rather than interfere-with, the seating of. valve plunger 64 on the valve seat 63 at the end of the rinse step due to the rapid evacuation of air from the capillary tubing 105 through the ejector throat 72.

During the next service run, a portion of the treated water flows from the bottom of tank 10 through conduit 18 up into, the chamber 73 between the nozzle and throat of the ejector 19. Some of this water passes through conduit 75 back into the regenerant tank 76 to refill this tank to a.level determined by the float 82, which closes the float valve 81' and.thereby terminates the refill of the regenerant tank when a predetermined liquid level is attained in the regenerant tank. Also, water flows from chamber 73 back through the capillary tubing 105 into the liquid chamber 97 in the diaphragm. This refilling of the liquid chamber in the timer continues, with the diaphragm gradually rising with the liquid level in chamber 97 and exhausting air out of the upper chamber 96 past the stem 99, until the flexible diaphragm 95 abuts against the top 93 of the timer housing. The rise of the diaphragm 95 and stem 99 in this manner permits the bead chain 101 to become slack, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the lever 49 may be manually operated to open valve 48 when the treatment tank again requires regeneration.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the particular embodiment of the timer illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described above is especially well adapted for performing the objects and purposes of the present invention in a novel and advantageous manner. However, while in the foregoing description and in the accompanying drawings there has been disclosed a particular preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that various modifications, omissions and refinements which depart from the disclosed form of the invention may be adopted without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Also, while the hydraulic timer of the present invention has been described in conjunction with water treatment apparatus, it is to be understood that the timer of the present invention is of more general utility and is not limited to this particular use.

I claim:

1. An hydraulic timer comprising an elongated cylindrical housing having a length much greater than the diameter thereof, a flexible cup shaped diaphragm attached to said housing intermediate the ends thereof, a top wall attached to the upper end of said housing and defining an air chamber therein between said top wall and said diaphragm, said top Wall having an opening therein communicating the air chamber with the atmosphere, said diaphragm having a cylindrical wall shaped and dimensioned when undistended to extend from the point of attachment of said diaphragm upwardly into said air chamber in substantial conformity with the cylindrical housing, an integral flexible top wall on said diaphragm shaped and dimensioned to substantially conform to said top wall when said diaphragm is undistended, a bottom wall attached to said housing and defining a liquid chamber therein between said bottom wall and said diaphragm, passage means having a high liquid flow impedance communicating with the liquid chamber through the bottom wall, means communicating with said passage means for selectively passing liquid under pressure through the passage means into said liquid chamber and for withdrawing liquid through said passage means from said liquid chamber whereby air under atmospheric pressure in the air chamber forces the diaphragm downwardly in said housing, and means attached to the top wall of the diaphragm and extending loosely through said opening in the top wall of the housing providing a lost motion connection between said diaphragm to the device to be operated thereby.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said bottom wall is spaced relatively farther from the point of attachment of the diaphragm to the housing than said top wall whereby said diaphragm completely inverts before en gaging said bottom wall.

3. An hydraulic timer comprising an elongated cylindrical housing having a length much greater than the diameter thereof, a flexible cup shaped diaphragm attached to said housing intermediate the ends thereof, a first end wall attached to one end of said housing and defining an air chamber therein between said top wall and said diaphragm, said one end wall having an opening, said diaphragm having a cylindrical wall shaped and dimensioned when undistended to extend from the point of attachment of the diaphragm to said first end wall and in substantial conformity with the walls of said housing, an integral flexible top wall on said diaphragm shaped and dimensioned when undistended to substantially conform to said top wall, a second end Wall attached to the opposite end of said housing and defining a liquid chamber therein between said second end wall and said diaphragm, passage means having a high liquid flow impedance communicating with said liquid chamber through said bottom wall, means for selectively passing liquid through said passage means into said liquid chamher to force the diaphragm into an upright position in conformity with the walls of the upper portion of the housing and for withdrawing liquid from said liquid chamber through said passage means to effect inversion of said diaphragm, said second end wall being spaced from the point of attachment of the diaphragm to said housing a distance at least equal to the spacing of the first end wall from the point of attachment of the diaphragm to permit the diaphragm to invert when liquid is withdrawn from the liquid chamber, and an operator attached to said diaphragm and extending out of said housing.

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